School Location and Facilities
Language Link's central school and office in Volgograd
are situated near the embankment in the city centre,
on Komsomolskaya Street. Prospect Lenina (Volgograd's
leafy main thoroughfare) and the Volgograd Technical and Pedagogical
Universities are nearby. The office is open every day from 9 am to 7.30 pm.
The Surrounding Area
Shopping - There is a big
supermarket next to the office on Sovietskaya Street,
which sells everything you could possibly need. If you prefer
to shop in a more western environment, there is a supermarket 'Gourmand'
on Prospect Lenina (near Gagarina Street), which offers a large variety of goods,
but is more expensive than smaller Russian-style food shops. 15 minutes walk from the
office there's a big modern shopping center "Piramida" with cinema, billiards, bowling and
so on.
Eating, Drinking and Dining -
Eating out in Volgograd is very good value for money.
The big self-service restaurant "Yelki-Palki" and "Shuri-Muri" are about 5 minutes
from the school and are good for simple lunches,
and there are swarms of cafes offering traditional Russian cuisine for next to nothing.
If you want to enjoy a pleasant meal in the evenings, there are some reasonably-priced
restaurants serving Texan, Georgian, German, French, Italian and Japanese cuisine.
In most of the restaurants a 3-course meal with drinks is unlikely to set you back more than $25.
The pick of the restaurants in the central district are: Bochka, a German-themed restaurant,
with live music on Friday nights; Cafe in the Alley, serving Georgian cuisine
(the eggplant caviar alone is worth it); The Grand Caf? which is next to the central park,
The Steak House and The White Horse, a pub with grub,
live music on Fridays. They are all no more than 10
minutes walk from the school. There is also a McDonalds in Volgograd
- it's situated next to the big and modern cinema "Kinomax" not far from the city centre.
Internet Cafes -
You can find good internet access in Volgograd in a number of Internet cafes.
'Pautina' on the corner of Prospekt Lenina and Ulitsa Gagarina is quite popular,
along with the internet place on the third floor of the Torgovii Centre (accessed via
a separate entrance on the side of the shopping centre). You can find quite cheap internet access
in the nearest post office as well. There's also wireless internet in Kofe Nero and Terrace.
Safety -
Volgograd is no more dangerous (and arguably less so) than your average Western city and common sense is your best weapon. Main streets are well lit, but yards and side streets may not be. Be on your guard, don't carry obviously expensive items openly and use only official taxis at night. In the event of an emergency, you should contact one of Language Link's Russian office staff. People of darker skin tones should be aware that they may face some verbal harassment, as racial intolerance is sadly common in Russia.
